How well do you recognize email scams?
Well, there are several ways you can do this:

The first type of email scam belongs to the ‘something for nothing’ category. This is the most common of all email scams and unfortunately, it shows no sign of stopping, simply because these types of emails offer instant wealth for practically nothing. It usually involves someone unknown to you emailing you from another country, offering to hand you a huge sum of money for simply cashing a check they send you, and then sending some of that money back to them.

So….anytime you get a mail like the one described above, you know what to do – delete it immediately!

Another way to identify an email scam is when you get a ‘lottery winning notice.’ Do not get caught into the scammer’s trap. Because, the reality is that you haven’t won anything. If you go ahead and cash a ‘lottery check’ from these guys and then send back their share, and the bank discovers it was a fake….well, you’ll be in hot water, because you owe the bank the entire amount.

That’s why you need to avoid all ‘lottery winning notice’ emails like the plague!

Yet another way of recognizing an email scam, is 1) if the sender requests your private information, such as credit card and bank account numbers, or 2) if they ask you to click on a link in the email that’ll lead you to their website. Often times, the info what the link displays and the info you find on the website is totally different. This is because the website is actually a fake one designed with purpose in mind – to steal your personal information.

HINT: 98% of email scams contain an awful lot of grammatical errors. This is often a dead giveaway, so if you receive emails that seem suspicious, and are filled with spelling errors, it might be a good idea to hit that delete button!

How can I report an email scam?
Well, for starters, you can get in touch with the FBI’s IC3, otherwise known as the Internet Crime Complaint Center. You could easily fill out a form to report all sorts of online-related crimes, and you can also sign up to receive updates when new scams are reported, on the FBI’s website.

Another way to report an email scam is to directly contact companies that may have been entangled in the scam. To elaborate, if you happen to receive a suspicious email from a person claiming to be Best Buy, you can log onto their website and file in a report.

There are also special email addresses where you can forward all of the suspicious emails you receive. One of them is the FTC’s email address, which is spam@uce.gov.

How do I protect myself from an email scam?

• Never ever give out personal information via email to strangers.
• Do not click on any links inside an email if you’re not sure of the identity of the sender.
• Don’t event think about replying to an email that seems suspicious.
• Finally, you might want to sign up for an identity theft service, for eg. LifeLock.

OK, that’s a wrap for this article! Keep in mind all of the above tips and you’ll be safe from unscrupulous email scams!